Review: BenQ Mobiuz EX2510
On paper, it packs a punch at the price. But, is it too good to be true?
The world of gaming monitors is commoditised to the point where most models offer something different to everything else on the market. In the case of BenQ’s Mobiuz EX2510 its feature set places it somewhere around the top-end of the budget market and the bottom end of the mid-range market. So, who, if anyone, should buy it?
The headline features iunclude a 24.5-inch, Full HD, 144Hz gaming monitor with HDR, decent built-in speakers and good ergonomics. It uses an IPS panel and subsequently offers good colour performance and viewing angles but its true black reproduction can’t rival the best monitors or TVs (not that you’d want that when competitive gaming). It makes use of BenQ’s innovative, software-based ‘HDRi’ emulation technology, which optimises contrast and colour saturation based upon content (or an ambient light sensor). In practice it worked rather well: a button in the lower right-hand corner switches between Game, Cinema and (normal) HDR modes and they add more vibrancy to a regular screen. It’s far removed from the 1,000-nit, rear-lit premium rivals which reproduce lighting that looks like it’s shining out of the screen, but we were generally impressed with the bright, 400-nit panel’s ability to display bright colours on a dark background. That said, highlights in games could get washed out – it’s better at revealing enemies in shadows than in the sky.
The 144Hz refresh rate kept all objects moving smoothly and sharply. That’s because pixels have a low, 1ms response time (using the Motion Picture Response Time measure) and are capable of 2ms grey-to grey transitions – very fast for an IPS panel. Various settings allow you to tinker with the results’ success dependent on personal preference. Nonetheless, it’s capable of producing smooth and vibrant gaming and a crisp and usable desktop for work.
The stand is solid and looks classy while the screen is surrounded by an impressively thin bezel. It’s matte-finished rather than glossy, but while ‘black mirror’ reflections are cut out, it can still reflect significant ambient glare in bright rooms.
Two 2.5W speakers are built-in and provide impressive day-today audio. However, when things get loud, the lack of bass becomes apparent, especially when playing music or listening to booming gaming effects.
The stand pivots, rises/lowers and swivels to a generous degree but rotation is negligible. Connectivity includes a headphone jack, two HDMI 2.0 ports and a DisplayPort 1.2.
The OSD is intuitively controlled by a mini joystick at the rear. This provides responsive changes (and previews) to setting adjustments.
Under general usage we really liked it. However, we did notice a potential glitch in that, when Windows’ frequency and a game’s frequency were mismatched, the screen repeatedly turned off for a few seconds. However, so long as everything ran at 144Hz, there were no issues.
At $379, the Mobiuz represents great value. The only weakness is a loss of detail in bright areas but, beyond that, it ticks every box you’d want from a reasonably priced gaming monitor..
A great value option that covers all the basics.